We proudly offer the bios of our accomplished teachers.
Jolie De Feis is the author of the newsletter Hotline Skin, which serves as a platform for her career as a practicing esthetician in New York City. She is also a contributor to New York and InStyle magazines. She has worked as a product manager, a UX manager, and served in public schools in both New York and Durban, South Africa. She holds a BA from Oberlin College and graduated with honors from Christine Valmy International School for Esthetics, Skin Care & Makeup.
Scott Alexander Hess is the author of five novels, including Skyscraper, a Lambda Literary Award Finalist, The Butcher's Sons, named a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2015 (both Lethe Press), and the novellas, A Season in Delhi, The Root of Everything & Lightning (all Rebel Satori Press). His work has appeared in HuffPost, Genre Magazine, The Fix, and Thema Literary Review. He co-wrote “Tom in America,” an award-winning short film, and curates Hot Lit, an LGBTQ+ themed monthly newsletter. He holds a BJ from the University of Missouri-Columbia and an MFA in Fiction from The New School.
Stuart Pennebaker has published fiction and poetry in JAKE, Unstamatic Mag, and After-Dinner Conversation. Her nonfiction has appeared in CHS Today and the Chronicle-Independent, among others. She is the former fiction editor of LIT and the author of the newsletter Missed Connection. She is Gotham’s Director of Publishing Guidance. Stuart holds a BA from the University of South Carolina and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School.
Julie Zeilinger is the creator and founding editor of the blog The FBomb, which is now partnered with the Women’s Media Center as an international blog for socially conscious teens. She is the author of the nonfiction books A Little F’d Up: Why Feminism is Not a Dirty Word (Seal Press) and College 101: A Girl’s Guide to Freshman Year (Prufrock Press), and her nonfiction has appeared in Vox, Forbes, Marie Claire, CNN, and Billboard. She has worked as politics and issues editor at MTV News and as a staff writer for Mic.com. She holds a BA from Barnard College.
